Eric Helms, of Findlay, paints a work of the USS Flagship Niagara and South Bass Island at the Great Port Clinton Area Arts Council's Art and Craft Festival in Lakeview Park on Saturday.

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If you didn't know it, you would think Eric Helms had been painting professionally his entire life.

The Findlay native was placing delicate details on the tree line of South Bass Island on a large canvas painting of the USS Flagship Niagara on Saturday afternoon at Lakeview Park. He used oranges and yellows to give the sky a golden glow near Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial in Put-In-Bay.

"This one will take me a few more weeks. I want to get the details on the masts right and the railing, too," Helms said as people stopped to look at his work. "Then I'm going to start on the old ...